New Hampshire House Passes Pro-D.C. Resolution

President Obama's motorcade at his January 2013 inauguration was affixed with D.C.'s "Taxation without Representation" license plates. (Courtesy of whitehouse.gov)

Full citizenship for Washington residents took a step forward Thursday when the New Hampshire House of Representatives supported a resolution mandating that District residents be fully represented in the U.S. Congress.

The measure, House Resolution 21, passed 145-133 with Rep. Cindy Rosenwald authoring the legislation. Rosenwald is a strong ally of D.C. Council member David Catania (I-At Large), who will run in the November general election for mayor.

Kimberly Perry, the executive director of DC Vote, said the resolution marks progress in D.C. residents' quest for full citizenship.

"This vote is further evidence that elected leaders from both parties who seriously consider our situation recognize the injustice District residents face every day," Perry said. "While this is a symbolic victory, it is encouraging that legislators from a state with no clear interest in our rights felt compelled to stand up for the District."

Perry said that Rosenwald has pushed her colleagues to consider the pro-District resolution for the past six years. The last state to endorse District voting rights in the Congress was Delaware's June 28, 1984 passage of the District of Columbia Voting Rights Constitutional Amendment, which failed to garner any support among the other states.